Delimitation Commission

Relevant Provisions: Sections 3, 4, 8 and 9 of The Delimitation Act, 2002

The Constitution, as originally enacted, provided that for the purposes of elections to the House of
the People, directly by the voters in the states, the states shall be divided. Grouped or formed into
territorial constituencies, and the number of members to be allotted to each such constituency shall
be so determined as to ensure that there shall not be less than one member for every 750,000 of
the population and not more than one member for every 500,000 of the population [Article
81(1)(b)]. I was similarly provided that the representation in the legislative assembly of each state
shall also be by direct election from territorial constituencies in the state on a scale of not more
than one member for every 75,000 of the population [Article 170(2)].

Sections 6 and 9 of the Representation of People Act, 1950 provide that:

i. the parliamentary and assembly constituencies into which each state shall be divided;
ii. the extent of each such constituency;
iii. the number of seats allotted to each constituency; and
iv. the number of seats, if any, reserved for the scheduled castes or for the Scheduled tribes in
each constituency.

The Constitution has laid down certain basic principles to be observed and adhered to by any
authority undertaking the exercise of delimitation. These principles have been supplemented by
the Parliament whenever it provided for the setting up of an independent Delimitation Commission
or entrusted the task to the Election Commission.

The Constitution prescribes the maximum limits beyond which the total membership of the House
of the People and of the state legislative assemblies cannot go [Articles 81(1) and 170(1)].
Additionally, the minimum membership strength of the state legislative assemblies is also laid
down by the Constitution [Article 170(1)]. These limits cannot be transgressed, and every
delimitation authority, whether it be Parliament itself or any other agency created or specified by
it, has to so fix the total number of seats in the House of the People and in the legislative assembly
of each state that such numbers fall within the prescribed parameters.
The Constitution also lays down in Article 81(2)(a) the basic principle for the allocation of seats
to various states in the House of the People. The number of seats in the House of the People shall
be allotted to each state in such a manner that the ratio between that number and the population of
the state is, so far as practicable, the same for all states, so that these seats are equitably distributed
among all states. However, an exception has been made in the case of smaller states whose
population does not exceed six million, in order that their interests are duly safeguarded in the
matter of their adequate representation in the House of the People [proviso to art 81(2)].

Section 9(1), Delimitation Commission Act, 2002:

a. All constituencies shall be single-member constituencies and shall, as far as practicable, be

geographically compact areas;
b. In delimiting the constituencies, regard shall be had to physical features. Existing
boundaries of administrative units, facilities of communication and public convenience;
c. Every assembly constituency shall be so delimited as to fall wholly within one
parliamentary constituency;
d. Constituencies in which seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes in any State shall be
distributed in different parts of the state and located, as far as practicable, in those areas
where the proportion of their population to the total population of those areas is
comparatively large; and
e. Constituencies in which seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in any state shall, as
far as practicable, be located in areas where the proportion of their population to the total
population of those areas is the largest.